Modeling has proven to be an asset in determining or predicting the characteristics of distributed systems, such as local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs) and Global networks (internal and external) in response to one or more stimuli. Generally, the model incorporates the attributes and parameters of network elements and, in some cases, the relationships among the network elements. For example, commonly-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,528,516; 5,661,668; 6,249,755; 6,868,367; 7,003,433, 7,337,090, and 7,107,185, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein, describe methods and systems of network modeling utilizing network attributes, parameters and their relationships. The aforementioned patents and patent applications further describe methods for performing system analysis based on a mapping of observable events and detectable events, e.g., symptoms and problems, respectively, in IP-based networks.
However, the present methods of modeling networks are typically designed for a particular network type or network protocol. For example, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/176,982, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Analyzing and Problem Reporting in Storage Area Networks,” filed on Jul. 8, 2005, describes methods of modeling storage area networks and performing a system analysis on the modeled network, U.S. application Ser. No. 11/325,108, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Analyzing and Problem Reporting in RFID Networks,” filed on Jan. 6, 2006, describes methods of modeling RFID networks and performing a system analysis on the modeled network and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/949,415, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Modeling and Analyzing of MPLS and Virtual Private Networks,” filed on Sep. 24, 2006, describes methods of modeling MPLS and Virtual Private Network (VPN) and performing a system analysis on the modeled network. In addition, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/211,234, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Configuration and Analysis of Network Routing Protocols,” filed on Aug. 25, 2005, describes methods for modeling and analyzing network routing protocols. The aforementioned patent applications are commonly-owned by the assignee of the instant invention and there contents are incorporated by reference herein.
With current modeling technology, however, the constructed models are designed specifically for the network or protocol being modeled. These specifically constructed models however limit the ability of the model to be used in different applications and further requires additional efforts to update and maintain the models as new features are added that may be common to all the models or specific to one individual mode.
Hence, there is a need in the industry for a method and apparatus for a general model scheme to allow adaptation of the model in view of the changing network components, protocols and/or configurations.